Systems and Methods for Efficient Point Cloud Visualization Based On a Hybrid Rendering of Data Points and Meshes

1. A method comprising: receiving a file comprising a plurality of data points that are distributed non-uniformly in three-dimensional (“3D”) space to represent a 3D environment at a first level of detail; defining each construct of a set of constructs with a singular set of values based on two or more sets of values from two or more different data points of the plurality of data points, wherein the set of constructs represent the 3D environment at a second level of detail that is less than the first level of detail; generating a complete visualization of the 3D environment at the second level of detail by rendering the set of constructs instead of the plurality of data points; selecting a part of the complete visualization at which to increase detail from the second level of detail to the first level of detail; and increasing the detail at the part of the complete visualization by rendering a set of the plurality of data points that generate the part of the complete visualization at the first level of detail.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the part of the complete visualization is generated from rendering a subset of the set of constructs; and wherein rendering the subset of the set of constructs takes less time and fewer compute resources than rendering the set of data points.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each construct of the set of constructs comprises a polygonal shape that spans a region of the 3D space at which two or more data points of the plurality of data points are located.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising: presenting the complete visualization from a particular viewpoint; and selecting the set of data points to include data points from the plurality of data points that are within the particular viewpoint.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising: presenting the complete visualization from a particular viewpoint; differentiating a first set of the plurality of data points that are visible from the particular viewpoint from a second set of the plurality of data points that are not visible from the particular viewpoint; and wherein increasing the detail comprises rendering the first set of data points as the set of data points that generate the part of the complete visualization at the first level of detail.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising: presenting the complete visualization from a particular viewpoint; differentiating between a first set of the plurality of data points that are obscured when viewing the complete visualization from the particular viewpoint, and a second set of the plurality of data points that are not obscured when viewing the complete visualization from the particular viewpoint; and wherein increasing the detail comprises rendering the second set of data points as the set of data points that generate the part of the complete visualization at the first level of detail.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein increasing the detail comprises: replacing a first partial visualization that is created from rendering a subset of the set of constructs with a second partial visualization that is created from rendering the set of data points, wherein rendering the subset of constructs produces the part of the complete visualization at the second level of detail, and wherein rendering the set of data points produces the part of the complete visualization at the first level of detail.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising: adjusting lighting of the complete visualization based on interactions of light with a subset of the set of constructs and the set of data points.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising: illuminating each data point of the set of data points based on light from a light source reaching each data point after reflecting off one or more constructs of the set of constructs.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein increasing the detail comprises: presenting the complete visualization of the 3D environment at the second level of detail in response to moving between different viewpoints in the complete visualization; and presenting the complete visualization from a particular viewpoint at the first level of detail in response to halting movement at the particular viewpoint.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein defining the set of constructs comprises: detecting commonality between different subsets of data points that are less than a threshold distance from one another; and defining color characteristics of a particular construct based on color characteristics of a particular subset of data points with the commonality.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein defining the color characteristics comprises: setting the color characteristics of the particular construct based on an average of the color characteristics of each data point from the particular subset of data points.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising: defining a shape of the particular construct based on a position in the 3D space of each data point from the particular subset of data points.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein increasing the detail comprises: presenting a visible part of the 3D environment from a particular camera position at the first level of detail; and retaining a non-visible or obscured part of the 3D environment from the particular camera position at the second level of detail.

15. A system comprising: one or more processors configured to: receive a file comprising a plurality of data points that are distributed non-uniformly in three-dimensional (“3D”) space to represent a 3D environment at a first level of detail; define each construct of a set of constructs with a singular set of values based on two or more sets of values from two or more different data points of the plurality of data points, wherein the set of constructs represent the 3D environment at a second level of detail that is less than the first level of detail; generate a complete visualization of the 3D environment at the second level of detail by rendering the set of constructs instead of the plurality of data points; select a part of the complete visualization at which to increase detail from the second level of detail to the first level of detail; and increase the detail at the part of the complete visualization by rendering a set of the plurality of data points that generate the part of the complete visualization at the first level of detail.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: present the complete visualization from a particular viewpoint; differentiate a first set of the plurality of data points that are visible from the particular viewpoint from a second set of the plurality of data points that are not visible from the particular viewpoint; and wherein increasing the detail comprises rendering the first set of data points as the set of data points that generate the part of the complete visualization at the first level of detail.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein increasing the detail comprises: replacing a first partial visualization that is created from rendering a subset of the set of constructs with a second partial visualization that is created from rendering the set of data points, wherein the subset of constructs represent the part of the complete visualization at the second level of detail, and wherein the set of data points represent the part of the complete visualization at the first level of detail.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: illuminate each data point of the set of data points based on light from a light source reaching each data point after reflecting off one or more constructs of the set of constructs.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein increasing the detail comprises: presenting the complete visualization of the 3D environment at the second level of detail in response to moving between different viewpoints in the complete visualization; and presenting the complete visualization from a particular viewpoint at the first level of detail in response to halting movement at the particular viewpoint.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, storing a plurality of processor-executable instructions to: receive a file comprising a plurality of data points that are distributed non-uniformly in three-dimensional (“3D”) space to represent a 3D environment at a first level of detail; define each construct of a set of constructs with a singular set of values based on two or more sets of values from two or more different data points of the plurality of data points, wherein the set of constructs represent the 3D environment at a second level of detail that is less than the first level of detail; generate a complete visualization of the 3D environment at the second level of detail by rendering the set of constructs instead of the plurality of data points; select a part of the complete visualization at which to increase detail from the second level of detail to the first level of detail; and increase the detail at the part of the complete visualization by rendering a set of the plurality of data points that generate the part of the complete visualization at the first level of detail.